State:Louisiana Incident Date:1984 Age at Arrest:17 Conviction Date:1984 Age when Exonerated:37 Exonerated Date:2004 Time Served:20 years Conviction:Rape, burglary, crimes against nature False Confession:False Implicated by Another Youth:False
Details Dennis Brown was seventeen years old when he was pulled over while walking down the street in 1984. He was approached by a law enforcement officer who offered him $30 to serve as a filler in a police lineup. During the lineup, the rape victim identified him as the perpetrator, though she had only seen her masked attacker's eyes. Subsequently, the police presented him with a written confession, held a knife to his throat, and told him to sign what was in front of him. Dennis did so and spent the next 19 years in prison until DNA evidence exonerated him in 2004.